Comprehensive healthcare reform bill is not expected to pass in 2009
26 01 09 - 12:21
Top Dem: No comprehensive health reform this year
By Bob Cusack - The Hill
A prominent House Democrat said he doesn't expect a comprehensive healthcare reform bill to pass Congress in 2009, saying an incremental approach to covering the uninsured would be better "than to go out and just bite something you can't chew."
House Majority Whip James Clyburn's (D-S.C.) timeline on tackling healthcare is at odds with the timetable proposed by Senate Democrats and could represent a major shift in the House Democrats' strategy of dealing with the uninsured.
During an interview on C-SPAN's "Newsmakers" program that aired on Sunday, Clyburn said he doesn't anticipate that comprehensive healthcare legislation will be approved in 2009.
While noting he does not know exactly when President Obama want to move forward with a universal healthcare measure, Clyburn said, "If you take what we've done with [the State Children's Health Insurance Program bill] and then you follow with [more spending] on community health centers, you would have gone a long way to building a foundation upon which to build a universal access healthcare program.
"I would much rather see it done that way, incrementally, than to go out and just bite something you can't chew. We've been down that road. I still remember 1994."
Clyburn was referring to President Clinton and Hillary Clinton's healthcare plan, which failed to pass the Democratic Congress and helped Republicans gain control of Congress after the 1994 elections.
Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), who is battling brain cancer, has made it clear that he favors a comprehensive healthcare bill. When he gave up his seat on the Judiciary Committee late last year, Kennedy issued a statement that stressed his commitment to pass a universal coverage bill soon: "As chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, I expected to lead a very full agenda in the [111th] Congress, including working with President Obama to guarantee affordable health care, at long last, for every American. This is the opportunity of a lifetime, and I intend to make the most of it."
Obama has not detailed his timetable for healthcare reform, but has emphasized that the recession will not stop him from launching his effort to revamp the healthcare system. The president has vowed to enact major healthcare reforms by the end of his first term.
After the 2008 elections, Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.) -- a key player in the 1994 healthcare reform debate -- said Congress could vote on a comprehensive healthcare bill by the end of 2009 or the beginning of 2010. Stark, who chairs the House Ways and Means Committee's health subcommittee, is a strong proponent of comprehensive healthcare reform.
Many Democrats believe the time is ripe to pass a universal healthcare bill in the 111th Congress because they control the White House and would only need the support of one, or perhaps a few Republicans in the Senate to clear the legislation. Democrats have similar majorities in the House and Senate to when they controlled Congress in 1993 and 1994.
A spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Clyburn's remarks.